Recovery
by X-magicalmystery-X
Summary: Remus is left alone after the battle of Hogwarts with a young baby, who will help him when he needs it most, though even he doesn't know it? DH Spoilers. RLHG. As it should be...
1. Chapter 1: Angel

Chapter one: Angel…

In the battle of Hogwarts many people were lost, amongst them Nymphadora Lupin; mother of Teddy Lupin and wife to Remus Lupin.

Needless to say Remus was devastated. He barely took enough care of his infant let alone himself. 3 months on from the battle and it was the most beautiful august for over a century but Remus Lupin still adamantly refused to leave the house. Mrs Weasley had come to see him several times, but he didn't want to see anyone, he didn't want to seem rude and he knew she was worried but he just wanted to be alone.

It had been 2 weeks since anyone had last attempted to visit. He was not prepared when Hermione knocked on the door, she had not yet come to visit him but he could tell Mrs Weasley had sent her, she had only just returned from the long holiday she had taken with her parents in France.

"Remus it's me, I know you're in there, I've come to see you. I'm not going to give up, I'm coming in whether you like it or not" He had never heard her sound so determined.

"Leave me alone Hermione" He croaked, his voice hoarse from disuse.

"No!" she said, he shook his head, sighed and started to walk back towards the sitting room, there was suddenly a huge BANG and the door was thrown off its hinges, dust flew everywhere and Teddy began to cry. Hermione stood in the door way in a butter yellow sun dress, her long, curly hair half pulled back in a pony tail. She looked stunning, slim, tanned and her eyes holding a determined glint.

"Sorry about that" she said, putting her wand away again. "Had to be done, I'll fix it in a minute, now, where's Teddy?"

Before he could reply she had put the door back on its hinges and was walking past him to get to Teddy.

When he reached the sitting room she was cuddling the little baby and cooing at him, little Teddy was quiet immediately and led in her arms, smiling at her and babbling up at her.

She waved her wand again and the curtains flew open.

"Jesus, Remus" She said "This place is filthy."

Even he had to admit she was right, he was past trying to defend himself and though he hated to admit it, it was nice to have some company.

Copies of the Daily Prophet littered the floor, dirty laundry sat in a basket on the floor and dirty baby clothes were thrown all over the sofa. Remus himself looked a complete state, he had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and he was thin and pale from because he hadn't been eating properly.

From where she was standing Hermione could also see through to the kitchen where the kitchen was stacked with filthy dishes. Remus could see her shifting into bossy head girl mode.

"Right Remus you are going to get up those stairs _right now_. I want you to go to sleep for a few hours while I clean up this mess and then you _are_ going to have a shower whilst I take care of Teddy and make some proper food for you and then you _will_ eat it."

He so wanted to argue but he remembered a conversation he had once had with Harry, Ron and Sirius all of whom had experienced Hermione's temper and none of whom had any desire to repeat the experience. Besides he needed someone to think for him.

So he went upstairs, led down and sunk into the best and certainly first dreamless sleep he had had in months.

Meanwhile, Hermione was downstairs, humming as she charmed all the dishes to clean themselves. Teddy sat on her right hip watching in amazement as she repeatedly turned his teddy bear into a kitten and back again.

When Remus woke up it was to hear Cassandra Warbeck on the WWN downstairs singing some kind of summery love song. He came downstairs, into the kitchen to find Hermione knelt by the fire place singing to Teddy, who was wrapped in a fluffy white towel, drying off after his bath. His, for now, sandy coloured hair was all messed up and standing on end and he was giggling as Hermione sang to him.

Everything was tidier than it had been for months, the sitting room was absolutely immaculate, the kitchen was almost sparkling and she was cooking something that smelled absolutely delicious.

She jumped when she noticed he was there

"Hey Remus!" She smiled, much more relaxed and much less bossy than before. "Why don't you go and have a shower, get changed and take Teddy out for a walk whilst I make Tea for you."

When Remus did return, Hermione had strapped Teddy into his pram and was talking to him as she cut up tomatoes, spring onions and lettuce. She had dressed Teddy in a little white t-shirt, trainers and denim dungarees, even if she said so herself, he looked adorable.

Remus did take his son out for a walk around the tiny village and, for the first time in weeks, he played with him and talked to him. It wasn't as though he had ignored Teddy, he had fed him, washed him, cared for him just as he should but he hadn't really spoken to or played with Teddy.

When they arrived by the house Hermione swooped down on Teddy again and led them out into the garden where she had set up their meal of Garlic bread, lasagne and salad. Teddy's meal of baby food sat on the tray on his high chair.

It was all delicious; Hermione fed Teddy his food whilst having a conversation with Remus. When they had finished Hermione served chocolate ice cream and refused to let Remus get up from the table until he had finished every scrap of food she had given him.

They continued to talk companionably, even when Hermione took Teddy out of his highchair and sat him on her lap. Until…

"Mummy!" Teddy squealed, patting Hermione's cheek with his chubby little hand.

Hermione's eyes widened "No this is mummy" she explained, summoning a photo of Tonks and showing it to Teddy "I'm Mimi"

Teddy looked puzzled for a moment before pointing at the photo and repeating the word 'mummy' giving Hermione a hug and calling her 'Mimi' Hermione smiled and looked up at Remus anxiously, half expecting him to look upset at Teddy calling her 'mummy' but he almost smiled and gave her a quizzical look. "Mimi?" he asked.

"Look, 'Hermione' is a hard name for a baby to say and I hate it when people call me 'Mione. I'm so glad I came here to sort things out, 'Dora wouldn't have wanted you to live like this." He flinched suddenly "I'm sorry, look; I know how you're feeling-"

"How could you possibly know?" Remus snapped, his eyes flashing.

"Stop pitying yourself Remus, thousands of people have had the exact same thing happen to them as you but at least they didn't shut themselves away from everybody who care about them. I don't want to go into how I know what it feels like but suffice it to say I have some idea" She hissed, her eyes filling with tears.

"I'm sorry Hermione, but I lost the only person who has ever loved me."

Her tone softened considerably "Remus, you know that's not true."

Eventually Teddy fell asleep, his head lolling on her shoulder and she put him to bed.

Hermione came back downstairs and began to collect her things.

"Are you going already?" Remus almost whined, he liked having company around and he now felt scared of being alone.

Hermione laughed "Remus, it's nearly 11 o'clock; I've been here nearly 8 hours."

"Oh" she laughed and gave him a hug; it was nice to hear laughter in the cottage again, even if it wasn't his own.

She was almost out of the door when it happened, he grabbed her wrist,

"You will come back tomorrow, won't you?" he looked so desperate, she couldn't have said 'no' had she wanted to, she smiled.

"Of course I will, tomorrow morning" and she went. She turned at the end of the garden path, the streetlight behind her head created a sphere of light like a halo, and she waved.

He almost laughed at the irony of it all, she was a sort of angel, picking Teddy and he up off the ground and reminding him that Tonks loved them both very much and wouldn't want them to ignore everyone who cared about them.

A/N: You thought I was going to put in a kiss there, didn't you? Not for a while yet, sorry!

By the way 'Mimi' is pronounced mee-mee, anyway, I hope you liked it the review button it there, click it and get writing!


	2. Chapter 2: Finding Out

**Chapter 2: Finding Out…**

Not long after her first visit to Remus' Cottage, Hermione moved in. They had judged it was easier for her to live there permanently, instead of coming to visit everyday and spending the whole day there.

Obviously, Remus knew that she wasn't going to stay there forever; someday she would meet someone, get married and move away (Though he wasn't sure he liked that thought much, he had already become accustomed to her being there). Which was why he insisted that she teach him how to cook, Tonks had never let him cook for them, she had always done it herself. The only time he had cooked for them he had burnt everything so from then on she pushed him out of the kitchen and did it herself, and, though there were frequent accidents involving her spilling things and knocking things over, they got by.

Hermione was perfectly happy to teach him, she had always loved to help people and pass on the vast knowledge she possessed.

A couple of weeks after she had moved in it was the full moon, Teddy was to stay at Andromeda's house for that night and would be dropped back the following morning and Hermione would make sure that Remus was securely locked in the basement and then she would leave to stay with Harry and Ron. Remus had just returned from dropping Teddy off, he was walking down the drive when he remembered something Hermione had said when she had first come to visit them.

_'I don't want to go into how I know what it feels like but suffice it to say I have some idea'_

He still had no idea who she had lost in that battle, but he had to know.

As he came through the door he called

"Hermione, I'm back! D'you mind if I ask you something?"

"What?" she replied, he knew she was in the sitting room, he could smell her. Contrary to what most people seemed to believe his senses were only really heightened near the full moon, all the rest of the time the only particularly strong sense he possessed was his sense of smell. Her scent was reassuring, she smelled of coconut and lavender; very different to Tonks who always smelled of strawberries.

"Who was it who you were in love with and was killed in the battle of Hogwarts?" He said this as he came into the sitting room and had said it before he realised that she was not alone.

Hermione was sat on the sofa, ashen faced and wide-eyed, Harry and Ron sat in the armchairs across from her and judging by their astonished expressions they had not known either.

"Hermione?" said Harry, obviously looking for some sort of explanation.

Ron still looked too stunned to speak, Remus was not entirely sure why because Hermione and Ron were not together, they had come to some kind of unspoken agreement after the end of the war that they would not date but would remain good friends.

For a second Remus thought that Hermione was going to cry but then she drew a deep breath and stood up

"I'm going to need a good, strong drink before I talk about this." She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of Firewhiskey and downed it in one.

Then she led them up the stairs to her room, knelt down on the floor and pulled a keepsake box from under the bed. It was covered with faded purple silk and decorated with sequins and beads.

She opened the box, it was full of old letters and photos and postcards, she dug around in it for a while before unearthing, right from the bottom of the box, a slightly faded photograph. She passed it to the 3 men.

Remus stared at it, it took him a second to work out what the photo was of, when he did his jaw dropped. He knew Harry and Ron were wearing identical expressions.

The picture was of Hermione, but she looked different to how she did now. Her eyes were sparkling with laughter and she was dancing with someone (Much like Lily and James were in the photo Harry kept of them on his bedside table). It was Fred Weasley, as they looked at the photo, the pair danced, Fred was spinning her around whilst saying something in her ear, she giggled. He kissed her cheek and she blushed and they began to dance again.

When he looked back at her, there were silent tears pouring down her face. Harry noticed this too and immediately enveloped her in a hug. Ron still stood there though, staring. It felt like a very private moment to intrude on so Remus moved to look out the window. It was getting dark.

"But we kissed!" exclaimed Ron, who seemed to have finally found his voice, Remus might have cricked his neck his head spun round so fast.

"I know Ron! And don't you think I've regretted that everyday of my life?" Hermione shouted, she was crying properly now into Harry's shoulder. "I didn't mean to kiss you like that, I only meant to give you a kiss on the cheek and a hug but you turned round and I was so caught up in the moment and I will never get over that guilt. We went to help them and he winked at me and then he was gone. Just like that and I couldn't even cry because no one could know about it."

Ron hugged her too and Remus turned his gaze back to the window. The trio stayed like that until they heard a strangled gasp from near the window. Remus was shaking, the moon was visible over his shoulder.

Hermione swore, she had turned to Harry and Ron before they could even raise their eyebrows, her face was still tear stained and she looked very panicky "The moon, I didn't realise how dark it was getting, Harry, Ron get out of here. Remus is transforming – GO!" They hesitated but she yelled at them "I'm an animagus, remember? I'll be fine, just go!"

Suddenly Hermione was gone and a red wolf sat in her place. Harry and Ron were reasonably reassured and left before Remus had completely transformed.

Moony made a move towards the door but another wolf stopped him. He growled, he was not used to this kind of obstruction, he made a move to push her aside but she wouldn't have it, she cuffed him round the ear with one of her front paws, snarling and he retreated whimpering. She obviously felt guilty and moved towards him, they circled each other suspiciously. Then he tackled her, she shook him off and stood up and looked at him. Then she understood, it was a game, he knew she was angry with him for trying to escape so he was trying to get on her good side again by playing a game. She knew she should remain angry with him and she wasn't feeling so cheerful at the moment but she didn't want to push it with him, he was much bigger than she was and she was amazed that he had let her get away with preventing him from leaving.

The night passed in much the same fashion until they both fell asleep on the rug, curled up together.

Remus awoke the next morning to find himself completely alone, he showered and dressed, already the delicious smell of breakfast was wafting up to him from the kitchen. He stumbled down the stairs, rubbing his exhausted eyes and yawning. He found Hermione in the kitchen, setting breakfast down on the table. He sat down across from her and did his best to subtly scrutinize over the top of his morning cup of coffee.

She was reading the daily prophet, her eyebrows knitted in intense thought as she chewed her toast. She was nearing her 18th birthday; she was legally an adult in the wizarding world and soon in the muggle world too but Remus still thought of her as a child. She had always been beautiful, though you had to know her to really see it. Her looks and figure were nothing above average, enough that you would think her fairly pretty but she wouldn't stand out in a crowd. It was her personality that made her beautiful; her intelligence and eagerness to learn, her kindness and sensitivity. She carried with her an air of maturity and serenity that people couldn't help but like and respect. All of these shone through her face and it was that made her beautiful in the eyes of everyone she knew.

He remembered someone telling him once that there was a difference between looking and _seeing_ just as there was a difference between listening and _hearing_. Now as he looked at her he really saw her for the first time in months. It was a very minor change he saw in her now, indeed if he had not been looking for it he probably would not have seen it but it was certainly there. Opposite him sat a young woman, no longer a child, she should not have had to deal with something like that at the age that she was. This woman had known the greatest kind of sorrow, she knew what it was to love and be loved and to lose someone she loved, she had had her youth stolen from her at a young age and had experienced more in her 17 years than most people would in a lifetime. Some people would have said that it made her look older than she really was but in his opinion that just made her all the more lovely.

**A/N: I hope you like it read and review (and thanks to everyone who has already done so, don't stop now!!!)! I realised that I didn't put the disclaimer on so here it is for the whole story: I don't own it, so there you are. **


	3. Chapter 3: Overhearing

**Chapter 3: Overhearing...**

Hermione noticed that Remus was looking at her and smiled at him

"What?" she asked curiously, rubbing her forehead and smearing the ink stain on her forehead even further.

Oh dear, now he had to have an excuse for staring at her so he responded with the first plausible thing he could think of

"I was just thinking, you're an animagus?" He was quite pleased with that excuse, he gave a reason that distracted her completely and didn't even blush as he was so prone to do, but, then again, growing up with the marauders was bound to rub off on him somehow.

She looked a little uneasy "Well yes, I did it during the war, I was bored when and needed a project to keep me busy whilst we were looking for the horcruxes. I just haven't quite got around to registering but I will have to soon or I have nothing to hold over Rita Skeeter anymore"

He raised an eyebrow and she laughed "It's a long story."

At that moment Harry flooed into the kitchen and promptly fell face first onto the kitchen floor,

"Are you both alright?" he asked picking himself up off the floor and trying to mend his shattered glasses. Hermione sighed

" Harry just use your wand, it's not that hard. Look _Oculus Reparo_"

Harry grinned at her "Why bother learning it when our resident 'know-it-all' does it for me all the time"

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and Remus smirked behind his copy of the daily prophet, Hermione had actually resorted to sticking her tongue out instead of coming up with some kind of witty, cutting remark.

But then she did come up with a comment "Some 'Boy Wonder' you turned out to be"

Remus snorted into his coffee, Harry opened his mouth to reply but Hermione cut across him,

"Is that the doorbell I hear? I think I'll go" and she skipped out of the kitchen laughing.

Remus turned to Harry, suddenly serious

"Did you know that Hermione was an animagus?"

Harry nodded

"I only found out recently, though. But there is one thing I don't understand," he said whilst nicking Hermione's toast and starting to eat it "when she first transformed I was there and she became a unicorn so why was she a wolf last night? Does your form change with your mood?"

Remus frowned and shook his head

"James and Sirius were always the same form when they transformed, we might have to ask Hermione when she comes back from answering the door"

When Hermione returned she was carrying Teddy, he was sat on her right hip, winding one of her dark brown curls round his finger, a look of complete fascination on his tiny face. His own hair was red enough to rival the Weasleys' today.

"Hermione, why does your animagus form change?" asked Harry trying frantically to finish off the piece of toast, without her noticing, before she realised it was gone.

She frowned as she put Teddy in his play pen "I don't know, it depends on how I feel and what animal I would be safest as in that particular situation." If you trace my family back 11 generation one of my ancestors was a witch, maybe she was a metamorphagus and that's why my form is always changing. Potter, you'd _better_ be prepared to make me the most delicious piece of toast on_ earth_ to replace the piece you just stole."

Harry smiled sheepishly at her before moving to the toaster.

"That's pretty amazing, Hermione" Remus said glancing up from his paper briefly. Hermione was glad that he looked back at his paper again because, otherwise, she would have caught the blush that stained her cheeks after his compliment. Harry saw it, though, and, though he didn't mention it, he made a mental note to remember it for future reference. And also so that he could use it to tease Hermione later. Bu then he remembered something he had meant to ask her last night before Remus transformed,

"Hermione, why was no-one allowed to know about you and Fred?"

Hermione instantly stiffened and she folded her arms

"Because, neither of us wanted to tell anyone because we knew about the endless teasing and questions we would get if we did. Just before we left to go and hunt down the horcruxes we promised each other that if we both lived through the war we would tell everyone then. I kept my promise for as long as I could."

Remus glanced up again Hermione had picked up Teddy and was murmuring to him, and trying to discreetly wipe her tears off her face and trying to pass it off as having an eyelash in her eye.

They spent much of the day together like this, Harry, Hermione, Remus and Teddy. It was a beautiful day at the end of summer so they spent most of the afternoon in the garden. Remus couldn't help but keep throwing glances in Hermione's direction; he could not believe that he hadn't noticed before the change that had taken place in her. She had grown up a lot since he had taught her at Hogwarts, nearly 5 years ago, but the change still seemed incredibly sudden.

Harry stayed until well after it got dark so Hermione put Teddy to bed whilst Harry and Remus stayed downstairs talking, Harry knew this was probably the only opportunity he would get to talk to Remus on his own so her came right out with what he was thinking.

"Remus do you like Hermione?"

Remus looked startled "Well of course I do!"

"No I mean like her"

"Oh, well" Remus gave an uncomfortable cough

"Ha! I knew it! You've been throwing glances at her all day when you thought no one was looking!" Harry shouted laughing.

"No of course I don't, she's too young for me and I'm an old werewolf and-"

Harry interrupted him

"Remus I know you're talking but all I can hear is the same crap which you spout whenever someone comes close to really caring about you. We both know that it's not really because you worry about that because we know that she doesn't care about any of that. You're just scared to let anyone too close to you."

"Well even if I did, what about 'Dora and Teddy?"

Harry almost faltered but he wasn't about to give up now

"You know Remus, anyone with half an eye can see how much Hermione absolutely adores Teddy and you know Tonks wouldn't want you to never go out with anyone just because she's not around anymore."

Remus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to prevent the severe headache that was fast approaching. He knew what Harry was saying was true, he hadn't been able to stop glancing at Hermione since his revelation that morning but that didn't mean that he liked her. Harry knew that he probably should not have pushed Remus to admit that he like Hermione when Remus probably hadn't even realised it himself yet. He knew it would be months, maybe even years (Though he hoped for both their sake it wouldn't be that long) before they were both ready to move on from the people they had lost but he also knew that Remus and Hermione would be really good together and he didn't know whether it was on the rebound or something but Remus definitely had feelings for Hermione, you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out.

Upstairs in the nursery a wide-eyed Hermione was clutching the 2-way baby monitor.

She turned to the cot

"Is it true Teddy? And if it is what am I going to do? I don't want things to be awkward between us" she whispered to the sleeping infant, taking care to make sure that the microphone on her remote was covered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Nightmares…**

The window was open and the night was dark, Hermione entered the nursery to see Remus sat in the rocking chair with Teddy on his lap, talking to Teddy who was cooing softly.

"Sweet isn't it?" said a voice in her ear, before she could answer Fred Weasley had wrapped his arms round her waist and was resting his chin on her shoulder.

She tried to speak to him but he was gone again and now he was stood alongside Remus and Teddy. Voldemort flew in through the window and suddenly Fred was screaming on the floor in pain, under the cruciatus curse, Teddy was dead on the floor and Remus was squirming and yelling too. She couldn't stop screaming.

"Hard isn't it?" hissed Voldemort's voice in her ear "You don't know which one to help do you? _Love is for fools_! They will both die and it's _all your fault_!"

Hermione screamed again and awoke with a start, drenched in sweat with tears streaming down her face and shaking. Remus was hugging her and they rocked back and forth as she drenched his T-Shirt with tears and thanked the Gods that he and Teddy were still OK.

It was just under 9 months now since she had moved into Remus' house and that nightmare had been becoming more and more recent, never exactly the same but always absolutely terrifying. The dreams always reduced her to tears but Remus was always there to comfort her, hugging her and whispering that she was alright, that she would be fine.

At Hogwarts it was nearly the summer holidays, Hermione was employed as charms teacher though she didn't live at the castle. If she had her nightmare during the night, she had to know that both Remus and Teddy were nearby and safe. So she would get up every morning, get ready and have her breakfast and apperate to just outside the Hogwarts grounds.

She would then walk up to the school and teach before apperating home again in time for tea. All in all it wasn't half as tiring as she thought it would be.

One particular morning she awoke to hear Teddy calling her, he was nearly 18 months old now.

"Mimi! Mimi!" He still used her old nickname "I hungry!"

So much had happened in a year, Teddy had learned to walk and talk, Harry and Ginny were married, very young it had to be said, but happily so and Ron had his own apartment. Harry and Ron were both high-flying aurors and Ginny had become a healer at St. Mungo's. She and Remus had become incredibly close, Harry was always joking about how they would be married some day and though they both laughed about it and knew he was joking Hermione couldn't help but picture herself married to Remus, Teddy's step-mum and with a few other kids belong to her and Remus. That thought alone scared her more than anything.

It had been an odd year, full of blushes and mumblings and embarrassing moments when neither of them knew what to say to the other.

She finally dragged herself out of bed, grumbling and carried Teddy downstairs. She put him down on the sitting room floor where he ran over to his toy box as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him.

Hermione made her way into the kitchen and found Remus making breakfast, he smiled at her and handed her a cup of coffee and she blushed as she smiled back, mentally shaking herself and trying to ignore the little tingle that she felt go through her hand as his hand brushed hers when he handed her the mug.

When breakfast was ready Hermione went in to call Teddy but despite how he had woke her up with how hungry he was he was now too interested in his toy broomstick to take any notice. Hermione despised that toy, she was always on edge when Teddy played on it because she was sure he would either fly out the widow or fall off or both.

"Teddy" she said in as stern a voice as she could muster "Breakfast now!"

"No!" Teddy had developed a love of that word and he used it wherever possible though he knew that if he was saying it to Hermione he might as well not bother, she was much more stubborn than he was and he was just not going to win.

He sat on the floor, pouting and with his little arms folded, looking up at her.

"Fine then Teddy, you can go without breakfast" She knew she would never be able to hold to that threat but he didn't know that and it never failed.

He looked at her and then he held up his arms towards her, waiting to be picked up. Hermione almost went to pick him up but decided against it, he was perfectly capable of walking it so she held his hand instead as he toddled down the hallway.

She went to work, leaving Teddy and Remus on their own in the house. Hogwarts was much the same as usual; she enjoyed teaching but always counted down the time until the school day was over. The students were much the same as when she had been there, she had realised that history really does repeat itself.

There was a Gryffindor Trio and one in Slytherin too (The two groups were enemies and hated each other _obviously_), there were the giggling girls and the prankster boys. There was that one boy who, no matter how hard he tried could never quite meet the standards of his classmates and was a little accident prone. And then there were the Slytherins, who were still just as dark except, without a Voldemort to follow this time around, they settled for being as unpleasant as they could to everyone outside of teir house.

When Hermione arrived home that night, it was to find an empty house, the place was a complete mess, Teddy's toys had been thrown all over the place and the cushions were coming off of the sofa.

"Remus?" she called anxiously "Teddy? Where are you?"

But there came no answer, Hermione instantly pulled out her wand.

Her first thought was that she must have fallen asleep in her office and was yet again experiencing one of her nightmares, but if that was so why was her foot still hurting from tripping over the foot scraper when she cam through the door. So this must be real. She instantly went into full panic mode and was about to reach for the floo powder to contact Harry when she heard something.

"Remus? Teddy?" she called again.

"Hermione?" came Remus' voice, he had just come in through the back door, out of the garden, and Teddy was stood beside him, both of them completely fine.

She launched herself at Remus, hugging him so hard that he was sure she had cracked a couple of ribs and she kissed him on the cheek and hugged him again. Without breaking stride she swooped down on Teddy, picking him up and swinging him round, showering him with kisses.

"Thank goodness, you're both alright; I thought I was in one of my nightmares again! What happened here anyway? The house looks like a bombsite!" she said all of this in one breath as she went out the door and back into the garden.

"Teddy had one of his nursery friends round for lunch and I haven't got round to tidying up yet" Remus replied, smiling faintly and touching the place on his cheek where she had kissed him thoughtfully.


	5. Chapter 5: falling

_A/N: I'm sorry that I took so long to get this chapter up but I was suffering from a severe case of writer's block and things have been incredibly stressful at home lately (Though I'm sure things are much worse for other people in my family). Anyway I think I have passed that now (The writer's block, anyway) so here's the newest installment. Hope you like it!_

**Chapter 5: Falling…**

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron asked as he came into her room to find her stood on a chair fiddling with the curtain rail. She jumped so high when he came in that she nearly toppled off her chair.

"I was dusting the curtain rail and I suddenly realised that the tops of my curtains were absolutely filthy so I took them down and washed them and now I'm putting them back up."

Ron looked at her incredulously "Hermione, who even sees the top of the curtains?"

She blushed "No one…"

"So why bother cleaning them? No one will know whether there is dust up there or not!"

"I would know!" Hermione exclaimed "If I know that there is dust there I can't just leave it sitting there...it bothers me"

Ron laughed "You're insane, Hermione" He shut the door behind him "Where's Teddy?"

"He's round at play group, his friend Katie's mum is dropping him back"

"Got a girlfriend already?"

"No, I think it's more that he makes her laugh by changing his nose constantly so they get on quite well. Anyway, Ron, what did you really come for? You wouldn't come just to ask where Teddy was"

Ron instantly became serious "Hermione, when are you going to actually admit that you love Remus?"

She nearly fell off of her stool again "Steady on Ron, I like him, I'm not sure that I could quite say I love him yet" she hoped that he hadn't picked up on that yet.

"_Yet? _So you mean that you think you could get to love him?" Ron asked, smirking '_Oh Bugger_' she thought.

"Yes I _know_ I could but, Ron, how is it that you cannot remember the 5 basic rules of magic but you can pick up on something like that? And why are you and Harry so bloody meddlesome? Keep your noses _out_!"

Ron merely laughed and told her that he had to go and tell Harry that she had finally cracked they had both been trying to get her to admit her feeling towards Remus for the past 6 months. He was so elated that he didn't notice as he left via the kitchen fireplace Remus stood next to it looking not a little surprised. He also failed to notice that the kitchen fireplace was directly below the one in Hermione bedroom.

Remus had heard every word.

He made a pot of tea to take up to her room and nearly dropped the tray with shock. Hermione was still stood on the chair attempting to pin up the curtains.

He put the tray down on her desk and made his way over to the window.

"Hermione, come down" he murmured, the chair she was stood on was not exactly steady; one of the legs bore a large horizontal crack. She let out a small squeak of surprise; she had not heard him come in. The following events happened very fast.

When Hermione had squeaked she had stepped back, the cracked leg of the chair snapped she slipped off the chair. Remus leapt forward to catch her but misjudged it and they both fell over backwards.

They were both led on their backs on the floor, next to each other. Hermione turned to look at Remus at began to giggle, he laughed too until his sides hurt.

Suddenly the laughing was over and he found himself face to face with her, her intense gaze making him feel very self conscious.

Neither could say how it had happened exactly, all they knew was that, one moment they were just staring at each other and the next they were kissing. Hermione had to ask herself where she had been all her life and why, exactly, she had not spent her entire life doing this. Remus was thinking something along those lines; he had not kissed anyone in ages, in fact the last person he had kissed had been Tonks … right before the battle … right before she was killed.

He pulled back "We shouldn't do this" he whispered. He regretted saying it instantly because her face, which had been happy not 2 moments ago, was now absolutely miserable. There was also, just behind her eyes, barely detectable really, a faint flicker of anger. Thankfully it was at that moment the doorbell rang. It was Teddy being brought back from his playgroup.

Hermione brought him in and set him down in his play pen on the living room floor. Then she turned to Remus "We need to talk"

"Why?" the word was out before he could stop it, he knew perfectly well why they needed to talk but he really didn't want to.

"Because, it's time things stopped being so awkward around here. If you don't think of me that way that's perfectly fine, but at least give me a reason"

"Hermione, it can't happen!"

"WHY NOT?" she was screaming at him now, Teddy was sat in his playpen looking absolutely terrified and Remus was starting to get some idea of why Harry, Ron and Sirius had feared Hermione's temper so much. She was around a foot shorter than him but with her face flushed and her eyes full of frustrated tears she was more than a little intimidating.

"Why does it matter? If you really want to know it's because I feel guilty about kissing you when I'm still married to 'Dora"

Hermione looked as if she had been slapped in the face but she had been asking for an answer and he had given her one so she did her best to keep her composure.

"You see that was all I was asking for, a simple ans-" her voice cracked, her throat felt choked with tears, she drew a shaky breath "Excuse me please"

In the sudden silence Teddy had begun to wail Remus picked him up and followed Hermione up the stairs, when he reached her room her trunk was open at the foot of her bed and her clothes and possessions were flying neatly into it.

"What're you doing?" he asked her, looking a little taken aback.

"I'm going to stay with Harry and Ginny for a while; I can't live like this anymore"

"Why not? What's wrong?" she turned and looked at him as if he had just asked her why the sky was blue.

"Because I love you Remus! I thought that was obvious! I was afraid to say it before but I might as well say it now because it couldn't make things any more awkward between us can it?" she was almost hysterical by now and a few tears had escaped and were slipping down her cheeks "So I'm going to go now," She levitated her trunk before her and began to walk down the stairs "Bye bye Teddy, I'll see you again soon…you too Remus"

She grabbed a cloak and walked out of the house, apperating away at the end of the garden path as she had when she left at the end of her very first visit there. Teddy and Remus were left standing in the doorway and watching the place where she had been standing.

"Mimi gone bye byes" said Teddy sadly as he waved his little hand at the spot where Hermione had been.


	6. Chapter 6: Just Visiting

**Chapter 6: Just Visiting…**

Teddy had been put to bed and Remus sat in front of the fire in the sitting room, thinking. Hermione had been gone for 3 days and they both missed her terribly. Teddy couldn't quite understand where she had gone, he kept calling her as if she would suddenly jump out from behind a chair and she would play with him again. Remus missed the adult conversation they had had when she was there.

He watched the flames as he downed his second glass of Butterbeer.

"You shouldn't drink too much of that stuff, you know." Said a voice, Remus whipped around.

Tonks was stood in the doorway watching him, she wasn't solid, she was slightly translucent but neither was she a ghost, she wasn't silver, her hair was sky blue.

"I'm dreaming aren't I?" he asked, pinching his arm, trying desperately to wake up.

"If this were a dream, you wouldn't have spilled that Butterbeer in your lap." She laughed as he looked down to see that she was absolutely right.

"Seriously though Remus" she said, her face becoming sober again, "I don't have much time here so I'll get straight to the point, why are you holding back with Hermione?"

"What?" she rolled her eyes at him and he continued "I thought you'd be pleased that I don't want anyone to replace you"

She smiled at him, like he was a small child who didn't quite understand that 2 plus 2 made 4 "You were never very good at letting go of things were you Remus?" He opened his mouth to give a retort of some kind but she cut across him "I'm very flattered that you feel like that but we both know that Hermione isn't trying to replace me."

When he didn't answer she pressed on "You know, she'd make an excellent mother to Teddy"

Remus' head snapped up "I was sure you'd be jealous" he croaked.

"Not really, I watch you and Teddy from where I am, she makes you both far happier than I think I've ever seen either of you" There was almost a hint of sadness in her voice when she said this. "You know you can't live your whole life in isolation Remus. I'd hate to see that happen to you"

"I miss you"

"I know" she murmured, looking a little tearful.

"Do you miss it? Life, I mean?" She looked thoughtful.

"No" she said, finally "Not life itself, I miss the experiences you have in life and I miss being here to see Teddy grow up and to live out my life with you. But other than that, no"

"Hermione's angry with me now" he said

"No she's not" he looked astounded "She's angry with herself; you kind of pushed her off so she feels utterly humiliated"

"I don't want to make her an outcast too" he whispered miserably

"I'd say that she's probably a lot like I was in that she couldn't give a flying banana" He raised an eyebrow at her choice of expression and she laughed "You pick up some odd phrases when you die" He suddenly noticed that her outline was becoming less well defined

"You're fading" he said faintly

"I told you I only had a certain amount of time here, Remus. Remember what I said and make sure that Teddy knows that I love him." She was nearly gone now "Hermione needs you right now"

"What?" he asked but she was gone.

He leant back in his chair and bit his lip, thinking, that had been the second strangest thing that had ever happened to him.

There was a great whooshing sound and the embers in the fireplace that had been orange glowed green as Harry stepped out of the fireplace and fell on the rug.

Remus laughed, "Harry you have really bad aim"

Harry straightened up; when Remus saw his face he immediately stopped laughing. Harry looked pale and scared. He was out of breath and his hair was even messier than normal.

"What's wrong?" His heart was pounding somewhere in his throat. "Is one of the Weasley's hurt?"

"It's Hermione" Harry gasped

Remus felt like some one had kicked him in the stomach … hard.

"What? What's wrong with her?" Remus was almost shaking Harry with impatience; he needed to know what was wrong with her.

"She's been attacked" Harry choked.

Remus was out of the room, had grabbed Teddy and was on his way to the infirmary at Hogwarts before Harry had time to catch his breath.

When they eventually reached the hospital wing Hermione was led in the bed furthest from the door, Ron stood next to the bed looking worried. Her face was white, her right cheekbone was bruised and swollen and the left hand side of her face was scratched, bruised and raw. The knuckles of her right hand were bruised; her fist looked slightly odd, the fingers were held slightly crookedly and her breathing sounded laboured, as if every breath hurt. In short, she didn't look like Hermione at all.

Teddy who had been asleep on his shoulder woke up, saw her lying there motionless and pallid and he began to whimper.

"Oh Hermione, what have they done to you?" whispered Ginny who had only just arrived.

Remus felt a huge amount of fury coursing through him as he sat down in the chair next to her bed and watched as she whimpered in her sleep.

"Who attacked her?"

"We don't know, they didn't use magic to do it, but they can't have been muggles because she was attacked in Hogsmeade, just outside The Three Broomsticks." Said Madame Pomfrey, she was striding across the ward and carrying her wand which she pointed at Hermione and muttered a couple of charms, possibly pain relief charms as Hermione's face relaxed into a peaceful smile. She saw the look on all of their faces

"Don't worry, she's just unconscious, it isn't life-threatening, she was certainly knocked about a bit. It may be a while before she's conscious again, it's just a question now of when she'll wake up."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"How do you know that was where she was attacked?" Remus asked swallowing hard and glancing at Teddy, who was now sat on his lap quietly and sucking his thumb worriedly.

"She didn't come home" said Harry "You'll remember that she's normally back by about 5?" Harry said this part to Remus who nodded and gestured for him to carry on.

"Well it was nearly 7 and she still wasn't back so I owled Professor McGonagall to check that she had actually left but the reply said that she had left nearly 2 hours ago. So we went to Hogsmeade to find her and we flooed into The Three Broomsticks. I asked Madame Rosmerta if she'd seen Hermione and she said that she'd been in there with 2 men and left. So we went outside, I thought we'd look for her in the other shops but we didn't get very far because we saw her. She was only just conscious and she was led on the ground outside the 3 broomsticks at a really odd angle and she saw us and passed out. I don't know why no one else tried to help her, they probably thought that she got drunk and passed out outside."

Remus looked at her again; her curly hair was spread out like a fan on her pillow in spite of what had happened Harry and Ginny shared a smiled when Remus began to stroke her hair.

"Remember what I said", whispered a ghostly voice in his ear he jumped and looked round but there was no one there.


	7. Chapter 7: Memories

**Chapter 7: Memories…**

_It was summer; Harry, Hermione, Remus, Teddy and the Weasley's were all sat in the Garden of the burrow eating lunch. Hermione was stood at the end of the garden talking to Fleur, who was very heavily pregnant, and Ginny, who was displaying a brand new engagement ring. _

_Hermione jumped when something tugged on her skirt, she looked down to see that Teddy had crawled up to her and wanted to be picked up. She smiled and lifted him, glancing at Remus, who was deep in conversation with Charlie Weasley. _

_Ginny and Fleur immediately began to make a huge fuss of Teddy, they were all so busy playing with him and talking to him in sing-song voices that they didn't notice George sneaking up behind them; he suddenly jumped out and yelled._

_Fleur let out a shriek that alarmed Teddy so much that he buried his face in Hermione's shoulder; Ginny aimed a kick at him but missed and nearly fell over. Hermione reached out to catch her, but with Teddy held in one arm and a Butterbeer in the other she dropped the Butterbeer as she leapt forward, the glass soared through the air, eventually landing upside down on George's head._

_The resultant laughter was so loud that Remus was sure that it could be heard in the village. Teddy had removed his head from Hermione's shoulder and was laughing and clapping his hands George was trying, and failing, to pout. Hermione couldn't help but giggle; she kissed George on the cheek and hugged Teddy close to her. She obviously knew he was tired, though no-one else could see it, because, within seconds, he was asleep. She seemed able to see things like that when sometimes even Remus failed to see it. _

_Charlie saw the direction in which Remus was looking and chuckled quietly the sound made Remus turn round _

"_I don't like her that way" he said quickly_

_Charlie held up his hands in mock surrender "Never said you did, Remus"_

_Remus turned a rather fetching shade of pink._

Remus opened his eyes; he had fallen asleep in his chair. Teddy was staying at the Weasley's for the night, he would have to go and pick him up soon. He glanced at Hermione; she was still asleep in the hospital bed. They had finally worked out just why her breathing sounded so painful; it seemed that she had cracked a couple of ribs. Her fist was healed too, though the bruising on her face remained.

"I'll be back" he whispered "I'm just going to get Teddy, wake up soon Hermione, everyone misses you"

And then he left.

_Hermione was walking towards Hogsmeade, on her way to The Three Broomsticks so that she could floo home but she decided to have a quick drink before she left. The pub was warm and friendly, even more than usual since the days had begun to get shorter and colder. She made her way over to the bar where she bumped into someone. _

"_Sorry" she apologised_

"_Filthy little mudblood" muttered the person she had walked into._

_She turned round to make a scathing reply but stopped short when she realised who it was "Why, Marcus Flint, the displeasure is all mine" she said smiling "And Goyle, how perfectly awful to see you." She added, turning to the man stood beside Flint "Now if you will both excuse me, I'm going home" She had privately made up her mind to skip the drink and instead of flooing home, go outside and apperate instead. She was just out the door when Flint grabbed her left wrist and pulled her back towards him _

"_We're not finished talking, yet" he growled_

"_Let me go!" she yelled, trying to make him let go of her wrist, but his grip was vice-like, in desperation she swung her right fist into his face, it connected with a rather satisfying smack. But he did not release her, though he clutched at his jaw, which was now at a slightly odd angle. She made another swipe towards him, this time aiming for his nose but he ducked and her fist collided with the wall behind him and made a horrible crunching noise, even Goyle flinched._

_Flint seemed to have recovered from his previous shock and stood up now. She shrank back slightly, both of them towered over her, and both were fairly well-built Flint had released her wrist and she attempted to take a step back, so that she could maybe make a run for it for her back hit something hard. Goyle._

_Flint raised his right hand and back-handed her across the cheek, she staggered backwards, not because he had hit her particularly hard but out of shock, she tripped over her own feet and landed on her knees on the pavement. She struggled to her feet but Goyle's foot caught her in the ribs and she slid down again, completely winded. _

_She was clutching her ribs and struggling to breathe, she began to reach for her wand, she hadn't thought to reach for it when Flint had first grabbed her and hadn't had a chance to get it since. _

_She fumbled around in her pockets with her left hand, hoping that they hadn't noticed her trying to locate her wand._

_Flint had noticed. He crouched down next to her and grabbed her hair; she was quietly sobbing by now, and pulled it so that she was forced round to face him_

"_Don't be rude to us again" He hissed at her; looking even more troll-like than normal. _

_He slammed the side of her head into the pavement, her head felt like it was about to split in two and she wished it could all be over quickly, her cheek was swelling, her head hurt, she could barely breathe and her entire right hand was throbbing._

_Her vision was slightly blurred now, but she could make out the pavement coming up to meet her again. Now her vision was almost completely gone and there was another pain as Flint finally knocked her out._

_She must have been there nearly an hour and a half before she regained consciousness, and even then it took all of her energy to remain conscious, she couldn't move or speak, it required enormous effort to simply keep her eyes open but she wouldn't let herself relax until she someone she knew found her, people walked past, throwing her funny looks but walking by her. _

_Then she heard the bell signalling some one exiting the pub and managed to use the last little bit of energy she possessed to turn her head, Harry and Ginny came out and saw her, their faces went very white and their eyes went wide when they saw her. She smiled slightly as sleep finally overtook her. _


	8. Chapter 8: Waking Up

**Chapter 8: Waking Up…**

When Remus came back with Teddy Hermione was still unconscious, but somehow, something was different. He sat down in the chair next to her bed with Teddy on his lap; Teddy looked at Hermione frowning as if he was very deep in thought. Then he leant forward, placed his dimpled little hand on Hermione's cheek and whispered

"Mimi, get up, 'akey-'akey"

Remus almost laughed, Teddy meant to say 'Wakey-Wakey', that was what Hermione had said most mornings when she came to wake him up. Then he stopped abruptly because thinking of Hermione when she was in this state was quite painful.

Glancing down at her he jumped, her eyes were open and she was watching him carefully, the expression on her face was almost guarded as she looked at him.

"Did Teddy just wake you up?" He whispered finally.

"No" she croaked, her throat was obviously dry and her voice hoarse from disuse, he quickly handed her a glass of water which she drank gratefully "I first woke up about half an hour ago but there was no one around and I was exhausted so I went back to sleep"

She looked like she was about to say more but at that point Madame Pomfrey noticed that she was awake and walked briskly over "Everything alright?" Hermione nodded "Right then, you've been asleep for a long time" Hermione's eyes widened

"How long exactly?" she asked, anxiously

"Nearly 3 weeks" Remus put in, watching her intently.

"What?" she squeaked, leaping out of the bed and promptly falling to her knees.

Madame Pomfrey and Remus had to lift her back into the bed, her legs were far too weak to support her weight, having next to no circulation, Hermione leaned down to rub her legs, wincing at the prickling feeling that spread through he legs as they began to warm up again.

"Who did this to you?" asked Remus

Hermione looked at him, and jumped, she'd never seen him look so furious. His eyes were completely amber and were glittering oddly.

"Remus, look, it was my fault, I provoked them don't waste your energy being angry"

"Hermione, I think you ought to tell him who it was!" said Harry quietly, taking Teddy before Remus scared him and glancing sideways at Remus.

"Fine, it was Marcus Flint and Crabbe." Remus stood abruptly and turned to leave but she caught him by the hand.

"Don't" she said "Please, you know there's nothing you can do."

He looked at her, seemingly fighting a losing battle and then he sat down taking deep, calming breaths.

"Start from the beginning" said Harry in his best comforting voice whilst Ron patted Hermione's shoulder awkwardly.

So Hermione told them, she had just got to the point where she was about to pass out in the street when she was interrupted by a kind of snarl and a noise like splintering wood. Remus stormed out of the ward leaving the chair with 2 very broken arms.

Hermione turned to Harry "Harry, give Teddy here, I'll look after him. Make sure Remus doesn't do anything stupid please."

* * *

When Hermione was finally able to walk again it was nearing Christmas and Harry and Ginny were throwing their annual Christmas Party. Even Remus was going (As it happened he hadn't been about to do anything stupid, he was just going to the Shrieking Shack to destroy some more furniture), Teddy was to go to his Grandma's again for the night.

Ron was to be there with his new girlfriend, Parvati, and Harry and Ginny said there was something they had to tell everyone. Most of the Order of the Phoenix were betting on just what that piece of information was.

Hermione sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror, she didn't like being the lonely one of the trio, everyone had always assumed that she and Ron would end up together but that had fallen straight through, after that the next most popular belief was that she would be the first of the them to marry but now it seemed that that had not happened either. In fact, in all likeliness she would probably be the last. It seemed that she was always destined to be the odd one out; that was how it had been before they were friends; that was how it was now. She missed living in Lupin Cottage terribly, she missed talking to Remus and playing Teddy. She missed them both so much that it hurt. Since the attack they had talked a little more often and were much more relaxed around each other though she had told no one about what had happened, she knew that Harry Ron and Remus were sure to want to find the people who did that to her and she knew that they would most likely be outnumbered. She wasn't about to let them get hurt; they were the 3 people she cared most for in the entire world.

She had taken special care to dress up tonight, Ginny had helped her to pick out a dress, the Christmas party was always somewhat formal and Hermione was never sure what to wear. It wasn't that she didn't have a dress sense, she could pick out clothes when it came to other people but when it came to herself, she was at a loss. So it was that Hermione and Ginny had made a pact to pick each others' outfits. Hermione heaved a deep sigh and stood up, she put on her favourite silver heels and left for Grimmauld Place.

When she arrived the door was flung open the second she knocked and she was face to face with Ginny, who looked stunning, her hair falling in a fiery sheet of perfectly straight hair, halfway down her back. She was dressed in a knee-length black dress; it flattered her figure in every possible way. Hermione felt a fleeting stab of envy; she had often envied the younger girl, though she would never tell anyone that. She considered Ginny to be everything she wasn't: she was beautiful with an hour-glass figure that most would kill for, popular, confident, had somehow managed to be both a tomboy and suitably girly and she was popular, the list could have lasted for pages. But she was some of the things Hermione was as well; she was intelligent, level-headed and quick-witted. All of these things had amounted to more than one sleepless, jealousy-filled night.

"Hermione, you look gorgeous!" squealed Ginny, surveying Hermione's lilac dress with a grin.

"Now Ginny, you know you will never have any competition from me or anyone else, especially in that outfit."

Ginny grabbed her hand and dragged her round almost the entire house introducing her to various people she already knew, Hermione was aware that the eyes of Justin Finch-Fletchley, Seamus Finnegan and even Dean Thomas following her on occasion but she knew nothing would come of it, partly because they didn't like her that much and partly because even if they did like her that much she wasn't interested. There was only one man she had any interest in and she hadn't seen him yet.

Within half an hour of arriving Hermione was stood talking to Ron and Parvati and wishing someone would provide her with an excuse to leave.

"So how long have you been together?" she asked, gripping her glass of firewhiskey rather tightly as she forced a happy voice.

"Nearly 3 weeks, isn't it Ronny?" said Parvati, beaming and turning to Ron.

"Yeah, it's been fantastic!" Ron agreed leaning over to kiss her, Hermione fought the urge to gag. Instead she excused herself, on the pretence of trying to find Luna because she hadn't seen her in ages, the second her back was turned she downed her shot of firewhiskey in one gulp.

Remus Lupin watched from the corner where he was sat with raised eyebrows, he had only ever seen Hermione drink Firewhiskey once before, when Moody had died and even then all she had done was to take a sip and then pour the rest down the sink. But now she was reaching for a second glass and emptying that one with just as much speed as the first. By the time Harry and Ginny got up to make their special announcement (3 hours into the party) she was holding her 5th glass.

"Hey everyone!" said Harry grinning "thanks for coming tonight" there was a small chorus of drunken cheers, Hermione was watching them intently "We said we wanted to tell everyone something so here it is, Ginny's pregnant! There'll be a ne Potter in about 4 months"

There was a great surge of people rushing forth to congratulate them and asking them just why they had taken so long to tell everyone. Hermione was in the lead, hugging and kissing both of them. But the second she had turned away her fifth glass was emptied.

By 11 o'clock Hermione was sat next to Charlie Weasley, her head was resting on his shoulder and she looked absolutely miserable. She consumed around 13 glasses of drink in total, 9 of them were firewhiskey.

Remus made his way over.

"Is she alright?" He asked trying not to show the jealousy he felt at seeing her with Charlie.

"I'm alright Remush" she slurred, her eyelids were drooping.

"No you're not, Remus I think you'd better take her home, she's had far too much" said Charlie looking uncomfortable, he obviously wasn't used to Hermione attempting to go to sleep on his shoulder.

Remus nodded and grabbed Hermione's wrist – pulling her to her feet, she staggered

"Remush, what're you doin'?"

"Taking you home, are you alright?"

"No" this word was much more firm, "I'm lonely, I don't want to live anymore. I'm all hurted" Sober Hermione would never have used such bad grammar "I always wanna cry and it's not fair. Why don't guys _like_ me? What it is they _expect_ from me? What does everyone want from me? I'm not Ginny, I know that. but why can't I find one guy I like who actually _likes_ me?" She was in full flow by now and she was actually crying.

He started to say something but she cut across him "I love you but you don't love me back so what's the- Remus, why has the floor gone funny?"

"Hermione?" he asked turning to face her, to see that she was completely white and she was swaying.

"Would you excuse me?" she said with a slight smile before passing out and falling backwards. Thankfully he caught her in time and apparated them both to Harry and Ginny's apartment, "I think you've had enough alcohol to last you a life time, you'll certainly feel it in the morning." He whispered as they arrived back in the apartment. Picking her up bridal style he carried her to her room.

A/N: This is the longest chapter I have ever written! There are only a few chapters left to this story and I promise they will get together soon! Follow the links below if you want to see where the ideas for Ginny's and Hermione's dresses came from.

Ginny's dress: dress: 


	9. Chapter 9: Hungover

**Last chapter but one so I hope you like it! R&R!**

**Chapter 9: Hung-over…**

Hermione woke the next morning with the worst headache she had ever had and she groaned as Ginny ripped open the curtains beaming.

"Come on Hermione, time to wake up! It's a brand new day and we are going to enjoy every second of it and- why are you still in your dress?"

Hermione rolled over in bed, burying her head under the pillow and mumbling

"Stop being so bloody cheerful, can't you see I'm dying?" then she noticed that she was, indeed, still in her dress from the night before, her shoes had been removed and placed at the foot of her bed.

But she couldn't remember doing that; she screwed her face up trying to remember just what had happened. She had few recollections from later than about 11 (around the time that Harry and Ginny had made their announcement.) Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes and buried her face further into the pillow, Ginny had now left the room and was making toast for breakfast, the smell of which was making Hermione's stomach turn. She was so sick of being alone, that was what she had been feeling last night.

That was why she had drunk so much. She wanted to forget, just for once, that she had been single for what seemed like forever. That she was in love with someone whom she was convinced would never love her back and that she had lost Fred.

She still missed Fred and though she loved Remus too she knew that there would always be a place in her heart reserved for Fred only. Just as there would always be a place in Remus' heart kept for Tonks.

Then she remembered, she had yelled at Remus, he had been the one to carry her home and put her shoes at the end of the bed like that.

She was now much more awake and staggered into the kitchen, to be greeted by the smell of food; she had to swallow hard in order to not throw up everywhere.

"Hung-over?" Ginny asked in a horribly cheerful voice

Hermione Grunted and reached into one of the kitchen cabinets for the hangover cure. Pinching her nose to try to make swallowing it easier she downed it in one. It was at that point that an owl flew in through the window, dropped a letter on Hermione's head and swept back out again.

She opened the letter and instantly recognised the handwriting –_ Remus_. Its message was very simple but it still made Hermione gasp:

'_Move back in with me_'

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, reading the note over Hermione's shoulder. Her face split into a huge grin, "Well go on, say yes, you know you want to"

Hermione bit her lip in thought. "I don't know" she whispered.

She reached for the piece of parchment and the nearest quill and scribbled a reply:

'_I don't really know what to say, that was a bit sudden.'_

The reply came within minutes:

'_An answer would be nice, and it wasn't sudden I've been thinking about it for ages and anyway I, hang on, this is stupid go to the sitting room and look in the fireplace.'_

Hermione shared a puzzled look with Ginny and then Harry who had now joined them and had become just as interested in reading the notes as Ginny had and had been reading over Hermione's other shoulder.

Hermione walked into the living room and looked at the fireplace. What she had been expecting she didn't know but she hadn't been expecting to see Remus' head sitting on the flames. She shrieked, jumped backwards and fell over onto her backside. Remus snorted with laughter and immediately a lot of hot ash shot up his nose and Harry and Ginny laughed heartily at them both as Remus sneezed and choked until Hermione pushed them out of the room.

She knelt down next to the fireplace and looked at Remus closely

"Are you alright?" He nodded through streaming eyes so she continued "I can't move back in with you Remus, we both know it would be really awkward, especially after what happened between us"

"Of course it won't you worry far too mu-"

"No I don't and that means a lot coming from you, and you know it will be awkward, don't get me wrong, I miss both you and Teddy but I don't want to go back for things to just become awkward between us. I guess what I shouted at you last night isn't going to help matters either" she muttered turning an interesting shade of raspberry.

"Oh…you remember that, huh?" He said looking uncomfortable "I meant to talk to you about that, do you remember what you shouted at me?"

Hermione's brow furrowed in thought "I shouted at you because I love you and I knew that you don't love me back"

"But that's the thing, I was going to tell you something that I realised a little while ago, when you had been attacked and you were lying in that bed. I saw you lying there pale and unconscious and for a second I thought you were dead. And I knew then."

Hermione looked like she was going to cry, she slowly got up and walked out of the room. Remus was left in the fireplace feeling slightly astonished and confused. Harry and Ginny had been stood outside the closed door listening and were not a little surprised when Hermione left the room, strode to the end of the hall and promptly, without any explanation, disapperated.

Remus pulled his head out of the fireplace with a sigh and turned to Teddy who was sitting in his playpen with his teddy bear and a picture book that Hermione had given him and sighed.

There was a knock on the door, he didn't want to answer it, but they knocked again. He growled in frustration, he couldn't see why anyone would be outside in weather like this so he dragged himself out into the hall and opened the door. Hermione was stood there, still in her pyjamas and absolutely soaked. She looked up at him, her curly hair plastered to her head, water dripping down her face

"Did you really mean that?" she asked quietly.

He nodded his throat too tight to speak.

But he forgot everything else as she grabbed him, right there, and kissed him.


	10. Chapter 10: Epilogue

**Epilogue: 10 Years later…**

The dull, early September morning might have looked, to the average person, to be nothing out of the ordinary. But it was. For the Lupin family, anyway.

The Hogwarts Express sat in the station at Kings Cross as students boarded it ready for another school year. One family made their way through the steam towards a compartment at the end of the train. Hermione was leading the way, a tiny bundle of blankets clutched in her arms and a little girl clinging to her skirt on one side and a boy of around 11 years holding on to her other side. Remus followed her carrying a little boy and holding the hand of another little girl.

The Lupins were looking for the potters who suddenly emerged from the smoke. Harry and Ginny stood there smiling and waving surrounded by their 2 boys and their daughter Lily. James was starting Hogwarts in a year or so and wanted to see the train whereas the others had come to see Teddy off.

"Can't I just go there with you?" Teddy asked Hermione "you're going to be teaching there, we may as well go together"

Hermione interrupted him, smiling gently

"Don't worry, you'll meet some of your best friends on the Hogwarts Express"

She shared a smile with Harry and then adjusted the bundle of blankets because the baby inside them had whimpered, opening her huge silver eyes to look up at Hermione before breaking out into a smile and waving her little fists. Hermione stroked the tuft of curly brown hair on the baby's head and smiled.

She felt a tug at her skirt and looked down. Both of her older daughters looked up at her, one was 9 and one was 6 yet with both there could be no mistaking that they were Remus' daughters. Both tall and slim with silver eyes and long curly fair hair. Madeleine, the younger one, was sobbing.

"I don't want Teddy to go" she whispered, holding tightly onto Teddy's hand whilst her older sister, Eleanor, looked longingly at the big steam engine clutching her, already, battered copy of Hogwarts: A History and telling her father for the umpteenth time that she wished she could go with her older brother.

Remus merely smiled, knowing that when her time came to leave, she would be just as reluctant to go as Teddy was.

"Teddy will come home every holiday, won't you dear?" said Hermione smiling fondly at Teddy and, for a second, sounding just like Mrs Weasley.

"Of course I will Mimi" replied Teddy, trying to ignore James Potter who was busily telling him how fun it would be at Hogwarts and how he shouldn't be scared despite all Harry's best attempts to shut him up. The nicknames Hermione had given herself long ago had stuck well and truly with Teddy and, as a result, all the children called her 'Mimi' which she loved.

Ginny took little Lydia out of Hermione's arms for a couple of seconds so that Hermione could have some time hugging and fussing over Teddy before they had to leave. The little boy who Remus was holding was calling his big brother "Tetty! Tetty!" being only 2 years old, he still struggled with Teddy's name. He was the only one of their children to have inherited Hermione's huge brown eyes and his head was covered with thick brown curls. Teddy was his favourite sibling as he could be amused for hours watching Teddy's hair turn various different colours. Today, however, Teddy's hair was a fair colour to match his father's.

Teddy tried to behave as bravely as possible so that when it came to be James' time to go to Hogwarts he could tell home that he hadn't been afraid at all, only pretending. But he hugged Hermione tightly all the same and then he hugged his sisters, kissed the baby on the forehead and hugged his little brother Alexander who began to cry.

Teddy gave his father a hug, wishing he could just stay at home forever but at the same time he couldn't wait to go. Eleanor had not stopped talking for weeks about the many magical wonders Hogwarts castle held and he was quite eager to see them for himself.

The train whistle went and, in a matter of minutes, Teddy had been bundled into a compartment and the doors were being shut. As the train pulled away from the station, Teddy leant out of the window and waved, beaming with pride. Remus ran with the train as far as he could, waving. Maddie and Eleanor ran behind him, waving and laughing as they raced each other. Hermione stood still where she was, holding baby Lydia and keeping an eye on Alexander who had buried his face in her skirt and was wailing, sadly.

It had been a good ten years, she thought, smiling as the train rounded that all too familiar corner. Remus and the girls continued to wave, even when the train was out of sight; Eleanor was already talking about what her first letter to Teddy would be about.

The platform cleared quickly, most of the parents apperating quickly away as the train rounded that familiar bend in the track, Remus held the, now sleeping, baby for a moment so that Hermione could comfort little Alexander who was still hiccoughing. The Potters and the Lupins then began to head back to the gateway, talking happily, before the left to meet Ron, Parvati and their family for a meal in the 3 broomsticks, where Madame Rosmerta was sure to make a huge fuss of all the children.

When Hermione had forced her way into Remus' cottage that day in early summer, she had certainly never seen this coming, but she certainly wasn't complaining, and neither, it seemed, was Remus. He kissed her on the cheek and they left the station, at least until Christmas, Teddy would be returning home again.

(A/N: Sorry it took so long, I suffered from a severe case of writer's block, even now, I'm not sure that it was the best it could have been. I may rewrite it in the future but, for now, here it is.)


End file.
